The importance of these facilities was brought home to me forcibly on an occasion where for reasons of family illness my parents had to vacate our house for a couple of weeks and disperse we three children among relatives who lived near enough to allow us to continue with our normal schooling but involving longish bus journeys to and from school.

I found myself living with an aunt who lived in a small mining village where she and her husband ran a small general store in their front room. So, when I arrived there each evening and having had the evening meal it was time for me to do my homework - at that stage of my school career it was on average 90 minutes worth of work each weekday evening.

The only room to do this was the single living room behind the shop with a television which was permanently on and occupied by an aunt, an uncle and two cousins. My need to have silence at least for me to do my homework was lost on them completely so I had to do the best I could which wasn't at all up to my normal standard. Significantly, neither of my cousins in that family got to grammar school though they were in fact quite bright.

So it is not just interested parents who converse with you and lots of books around the house that are required for a successful school career - it is also living in a large enough house to provide at least some private space for study.